Rashika, The Book Owl

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Some of you might know that The Princess Bride is one of my favorite novels in the scope of reality and others might not. Well now you do. I’ve had My Lady Jane on my TBR since it was first announced. I saw the 3 wonderful authors who had decided to get together to write it and the fact that it was being pitched as being in the tradition of The Princess Bride and I knew I absolutely needed it. I also had no doubts about it being an amazing novel just because of the wonderful authors involved and was glad to fall in love with the book within the first few pages.

To be perfectly honest though, those 500 pages were intimidating as FUCK. I confess that while I have enjoyed many a big book, I prefer smaller books because I can read those in one go so getting through My Lady Jane(amusing or not) was harder than I thought it would be but also completely worth it.

I giggled SO much when I was reading this book and was sucked in by the brilliant narration.  The characters are well crafted and I loved all the shippy feels in the book. I also loved that this re-telling of history that allowed tragic events to become comedic and magical.

The fantasy element in this book was slightly unexpected for me because it had been a while since I had read the synopsis so I kind of just forgot about it. My Lady Jane goes all out with the alternate history and throws in a bunch of shape shifters to add a little magic to history. I love the way the fantasy element is incorporated though because it could easily just be completely random and useless and while there is definitely an aspect of ‘random’ to the magic, it seems purposeful and only adds to the narration and story-telling. After all, My Lady Jane is written in the vein of The Princess Bride .

This book also screams girl power which made so happy. Amazing female lead aside, there are so many amazing female characters to look up to. We may be in 16th century England but the patriarchy doesn’t win this round. There is a variety of female characters in this novel, some not so great but many who are amazing and great leaders. It made me so happy to see that Jane Grey wasn’t the only kick-ass female in this book and I was glad that her supporting crew consisted of a bunch of other kick-ass women.

There are also swoons to be had in this book. Gideon is wonderfully awkward and adorable. Both Jane and Gideon both have their insecurities about their relationship and do spend a bunch of time being angsty but once they realize the truth about one another’s feelings, they don’t let anything come between them. They also just work well together even when they aren’t entirely sure about one another’s feelings.

The plot is also pretty well paced given that the book is gigantic and I was never bored (only intimidated :P). I love the ways in which the novel isn't just about getting the rightful ruler back on the throne but also about self-discovery and even a coming of age to an extent (16th century, alternate history style). 

Since I clearly enjoyed this book, you might wonder why it didn’t get the 5 stars and I guess that’s because the length made it harder to enjoy and there were moments in the book where I really wish there was a little less angst. Otherwise, this book is hilarious and SO MUCH FUN to read.

Note that I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review